


Coincidence

by TheWonderHamster



Category: Top Gear (UK) RPF
Genre: Fic idea from a dream, M/M, Soulmates AU: birthdays
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 10:10:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7263745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWonderHamster/pseuds/TheWonderHamster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I got the idea for this from a dream, much like when Paul McCartney got the tune for Yesterday from a dream. In my dream, Wilman was obsessed with anime and I called him otaku trash (but he didn't hear it, so Richard repeated it, but louder). My mind is really strange sometimes, I know. Anyway, the otaku thing isn't included in this fic since it's even more unrealistic than the AU I've come up with. So stay tuned, dear readers-- I've come up with a variation of the soulmates AU, and I do believe it's rather clever. Also, please excuse the lack of proper indentation, as I mostly wrote this on my phone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coincidence

**POV: James**

His first day of work wasn't supposed to go haywire from the very beginning. And yet, it did. He'd gotten up earlier than he really needed to, had a more substantial breakfast than usual, and even combed his hair. He actually made an attempt at doing this properly, but NOTHING could've prepared him for... this. Whatever _this_ was.

When he showed up far earlier than was strictly necessary, he was greeted by Mr. Wilman, his new boss. He was asked to call the man Andy, and then sent off to the makeup girls. After that ordeal, they began fussing about with his hair. As they did this, he absentmindedly twirled the bracelet around his wrist. The one everyone got at the hospital when they were born.

His was a sort of sky blue, but foggy with a dark, cloudy grey mixed in. The design moved like clouds in the sky, and changed with his emotions (whether he hid them well or not). On the outside was his full name in gold lettering. On the inside, it was simple brass devoid of any design and was blank; but only at first. As a young lad, it hadn't bothered him much. He'd mostly ignored it and went off to play with his trains. When he turned 13, his parents told him how they met and when they realised that they were, in fact, soulmates. They told him how some people didn't even have a soulmate; their bracelet said their name and nothing more. Others didn't have anything on theirs for years, until one day they felt a stinging pain in their wrist and looked down to see something carving itself into the inside of their bracelet: the birth date of their one and only, their true love.

That night, after his parents had given him "the talk" (both the one about soulmates, and the... other one), as he curled up under the warm covers of his bed; he began wondering why he never had a date on his bracelet.

As the talkative women worked their magic on his hair and gossiped idly, he sighed quietly as he looked at the inside of his own bracelet for the millionth time.

James was at a pub one night when he suddenly felt an unfamiliar pain in his left wrist. He must've been only about 25 or 26. He told his mates he was going to the loo and walked as calmly as he could to the men's room. When he got inside and saw it was empty, he dashed over and locked himself in a stall. He stared at the inside of the bracelet excitedly. Then, all of a sudden, the pain stopped; and so did the numbers being carved into the bracelet. It hadn't finished. He used to think back to that day often. He wondered if it would have finished if he hadn't moved as soon as he realised what was happening. If there was anything he could have done.

When he told his parents, they quickly reassured him that it was perfectly normal, and that he'd still be able to find his soulmate. As he lay in bed that night, trying desperately to get some sleep, he heard someone crying. He found his mother in his father's arms in their room, sobbing something along the lines of "my poor, poor Jamesy..." His father explained to him that they had never seen anything like what had happened to him, and that his mum was just scared that he would never find his soulmate. He went over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, consoling her and telling her that he'd work tirelessly to find his soulmate if it would make her happy.

It only took about two and a half years for him to give up the search. To be fair, he hadn't actually tried that hard-- he hadn't even left the country. But he did take a rather grand tour of England, searching every pub (and even 2 or 3 gay clubs) for the right person; but even those with a birthday similar to the partial date on his bracelet had someone else's birthday on theirs. He eventually decided that enough was enough, and he wasn't going to obsess over it any longer.

After much begging and pleading, the hairstylists gave up on his hair, and he was sent off to a meeting. As soon as he walked into the room, he felt that same pain in his wrist-- one he couldn't forget. For the sake of professionalism, he ignored it for the time being. Instead of looking down at the bracelet, he looked around the room, and saw that his fellow presenter (whose name, he managed to recall, was Richard) was holding his left wrist so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. He gave Richard a confused look, but the younger man just shook his head and looked at whoever had just started speaking. James did the same, but found he couldn't concentrate on what the young blonde woman was saying. He turned back to walk towards Richard, only to see that he'd disappeared. Unbothered by this, James turned back towards the girl and tried to pay attention. Distractedly, he thought to tell Andy to fill Richard in on what happened later, seeing as he seemed to be the only one to notice Richard's absence. He couldn't bare to wait to look at his bracelet any longer, however; so he left hastily with the excuse that he wasn't feeling well. He must have looked unwell, too, because Andy looked concerned before he even said anything and bought it as soon as the words left his mouth. He walked out, looked around, and then looked down at the inside of his bracelet. The date on it was finally complete, after years of wondering if he would ever know the birthday of his soulmate. Smiling to himself, he decided to search for Richard and find out if he was alright.


End file.
